Physicochemical properties and leaching behavior of eight U.S. long-grain rice cultivars as related to rice texture

There are many long-grain rice cultivars produced commercially in the U.S.; however, little work has been done on correlating the structure and physicochemical properties of starch with their texture. The physicochemical properties, leaching behavior, and texture attributes of eight longgrain rice cultivars were studied. Differences were observed in the approximate composition of kernels, including crude protein (6.6-9.3%), crude lipid (0.18-0.51%), and apparent amylose content (25.5-30.9%). These cultivars also differed slightly in thermal properties, such as onset temperature (73.7° to 77.4°C) and peak temperature (78.8° to 81.9°C). Although they showed a similar pasting temperature, their peak viscosities ranged from 680 to 982 Brabender units. The amount and the molecular size distribution of the leached starch molecules varied greatly among the samples. The leached amylose, instead of the apparent amylose, was suggested to play an important role in cooked rice texture

Cultural Landscapes Study: Cedar Hill Cemetery

Final project for HISP-GAPALS Independent Study (Fall 2020). University of Maryland, College Park.Through their work with the National Center for Smart Growth at the University of Maryland (UMD), the Prince George's County- Planning Department commissioned this report from the university’s Partnership for Action Learning in Sustainability (PALS). PALS works with local jurisdictions throughout Maryland to identify projects and problems that can be taught through university courses where students focus on developing innovative, research-based solutions. This project was focused on investigating the history for the Cedar Hill Cemetery. This report centers on obtaining background information on the property and any previous efforts by the county to document the property for developing a Maryland Inventory of Historic Places nomination for Prince George's County.Prince George's County- Planning Department (PG PD

Identification of rare-disease genes using blood transcriptome sequencing and large control cohorts.

It is estimated that 350 million individuals worldwide suffer from rare diseases, which are predominantly caused by mutation in a single gene1. The current molecular diagnostic rate is estimated at 50%, with whole-exome sequencing (WES) among the most successful approaches2-5. For patients in whom WES is uninformative, RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) has shown diagnostic utility in specific tissues and diseases6-8. This includes muscle biopsies from patients with undiagnosed rare muscle disorders6,9, and cultured fibroblasts from patients with mitochondrial disorders7. However, for many individuals, biopsies are not performed for clinical care, and tissues are difficult to access. We sought to assess the utility of RNA-seq from blood as a diagnostic tool for rare diseases of different pathophysiologies. We generated whole-blood RNA-seq from 94 individuals with undiagnosed rare diseases spanning 16 diverse disease categories. We developed a robust approach to compare data from these individuals with large sets of RNA-seq data for controls (n = 1,594 unrelated controls and n = 49 family members) and demonstrated the impacts of expression, splicing, gene and variant filtering strategies on disease gene identification. Across our cohort, we observed that RNA-seq yields a 7.5% diagnostic rate, and an additional 16.7% with improved candidate gene resolution

Nonviral Approaches for Neuronal Delivery of Nucleic Acids

The delivery of therapeutic nucleic acids to neurons has the potential to treat neurological disease and spinal cord injury. While select viral vectors have shown promise as gene carriers to neurons, their potential as therapeutic agents is limited by their toxicity and immunogenicity, their broad tropism, and the cost of large-scale formulation. Nonviral vectors are an attractive alternative in that they offer improved safety profiles compared to viruses, are less expensive to produce, and can be targeted to specific neuronal subpopulations. However, most nonviral vectors suffer from significantly lower transfection efficiencies than neurotropic viruses, severely limiting their utility in neuron-targeted delivery applications. To realize the potential of nonviral delivery technology in neurons, vectors must be designed to overcome a series of extra- and intracellular barriers. In this article, we describe the challenges preventing successful nonviral delivery of nucleic acids to neurons and review strategies aimed at overcoming these challenges

The glial growth factors deficiency and synaptic destabilization hypothesis of schizophrenia

BACKGROUND: A systems approach to understanding the etiology of schizophrenia requires a theory which is able to integrate genetic as well as neurodevelopmental factors. PRESENTATION OF THE HYPOTHESIS: Based on a co-localization of loci approach and a large amount of circumstantial evidence, we here propose that a functional deficiency of glial growth factors and of growth factors produced by glial cells are among the distal causes in the genotype-to-phenotype chain leading to the development of schizophrenia. These factors include neuregulin, insulin-like growth factor I, insulin, epidermal growth factor, neurotrophic growth factors, erbB receptors, phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase, growth arrest specific genes, neuritin, tumor necrosis factor alpha, glutamate, NMDA and cholinergic receptors. A genetically and epigenetically determined low baseline of glial growth factor signaling and synaptic strength is expected to increase the vulnerability for additional reductions (e.g., by viruses such as HHV-6 and JC virus infecting glial cells). This should lead to a weakening of the positive feedback loop between the presynaptic neuron and its targets, and below a certain threshold to synaptic destabilization and schizophrenia. TESTING THE HYPOTHESIS: Supported by informed conjectures and empirical facts, the hypothesis makes an attractive case for a large number of further investigations. IMPLICATIONS OF THE HYPOTHESIS: The hypothesis suggests glial cells as the locus of the genes-environment interactions in schizophrenia, with glial asthenia as an important factor for the genetic liability to the disorder, and an increase of prolactin and/or insulin as possible working mechanisms of traditional and atypical neuroleptic treatments